Kudos to African bishops; No way! MPs not pro-life

Thanks to George Weigel for giving us a glimpse of what happened to the Extraordinary Synod to prepare for the 2015 Synod on Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the context of Evangelization.

It is right that the Church give special emphasis to family, since the pillar of the Church is matrimony. It is good that the supporters of the minor circles in the synod asked for their works to be published, as in the past, the interventions of synod fathers were always publicized.

It is good that, even though the poor Church in Africa is funded by German Catholic development agencies, the African bishops did not agree with the northern European bishops, principally German, and the synod secretariat, who worked hard to reframe the synod to consider admitting the divorced and civilly married to Holy Communion.

The African bishops know from their own ecclesial experience that Catholic marriage as a permanent union of man and woman is a great liberator to certain traditional African cultures, a liberator of men and women for the solidarity, joy, and fruitfulness in marriage that God intended.

The bishops did not want European decadence about marriage to invade their country.

Christians have suffered down the ages to honour and foster holy matrimony, Christians like St. John the Baptist, St. John Fisher, and St. Thomas More, who were martyred for defending the indissolubility of marriage.

As to what Cardinal Raymond Burke said, let us invoke their intercession so that the great gift of married life and love be ever more revered in the Church

and in society.

Anita C. Moralda

Coquitlam

No way! MPs not pro-life

Re: "Many pro-life MPs plan not to run in next election," in the Feb. 2 issue:

Thank you so much for the story about all the wonderful pro-life Members of Parliament not running again in the October federal election.

We are losing so many dedicated MPs who raised the pro-life banner at every opportunity. It is the responsibility of voters to return equally strong voices in their place.

I take issue with the inclusion of two NDP Members of Parliament under this headline. While Jean Crowder and Joe Comartin may well have "identified with the party's social gospel roots," in no way could they be described as "pro-life."

They repeatedly voted the official party line and never raised even a whisper of support for the lives of pre-born Canadian children.

Perhaps the voters in those communities will seize the opportunity and now elect candidates who will truly reflect a pro-life position in Parliament.

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